(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antitheft system of a charger for an electric vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an antitheft system of a charger for an electric vehicle that prevents theft of a slow charger during charging of a battery of the electric vehicle.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles have been developed and received attention for their enhanced fuel economy. An electric vehicle uses one or more electric motors or traction motors to generate torque for propulsion. A hybrid vehicle uses both an engine and an electric motor to generate driving torque for propulsion.
In a hybrid vehicle, the engine mounted within the vehicle is operated so as to charge the battery. However, an electric vehicle has no such engine mounted within the vehicle. Instead electricity must be supplied to the electric vehicle from an exterior source so as to charge the battery. For this purpose, electric vehicles are equipped with a connector for making a connection to this exterior source.
There are two type of charging processes for charging an electric vehicle, (1) fast charging type and (2) slow charging type. Fast charging utilizes a fast charger provided at a charging station that is connected to the vehicle's connector and the vehicle is charged. Slow charging utilizes an input terminal of a slow charger that is connected to a home socket, an output terminal of the slow charger is connected to the vehicle's connector, thus, charging the vehicle.
A conventional slow charger typically has a lever switch. When pushed, the lever switch can disconnect the slow charger from the connector of the vehicle. Unfortunately because they can be easily disconnected, slow chargers can be easily stolen. Generally, 6 hours is required for charging the battery of the vehicle when utilizing a slow charger. Therefore, if an owner of the vehicle does not stay near the to vehicle until the battery is completely charged, anyone can steal the slow charger during this extended period of time.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.